Improvement in coffins



R. J. HoWDoN.

coffin Patented .July 8,1879.

71.; mmm? UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

` ROBERT 'J. HowDoN, or oINoInNATI, onto, AssIeNoR To THE oiNeINNATi I ooFFINcoMPANY,

0F SAME PLACE.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No.

217,380, dated July s, 1879; application fieu May 19, 1879.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, ROBERT JtHoWDoN of Cincinnati, in the county of Hamilton and State of Ohio, have invented a new ad useful Fastening for the Tops of Coffins; and 1 do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the same, which will enable others skilled in the art to which it relates to make and use it, reference being had to the acconpanying drawings, forming part of this specification, in Which- Figure 1 is a perspective view of a coffin with the fastening applied; Fig. 2, a longitudinal central section; Fig. 3, aa inverted plan view of the lid and its fastenings, and Fig. 4 a detached View of the fastening. 4

Similar letters of reference denote the same parts in the several figures of the drawings.

In applying the lid, cap, and glass 'to the body of a cofin or burial-casket it is the frequent custom to employr screws, whicl are generally provided with heads to serve as thumbscrews, and ornamented to impart a finish to the coffin. This mode of fastening is slow, and occasions ,unnecessary delay in opening and closing a coffin, particularly at funerals, where the delay is very unpleasant and annoying.

My invention has for its object to dispense with serews and to provide means by which the undertaker is enabled to open or close any or all parts of a cotlin or casket iu a much shorter time than can be done by the use of screws, and with far less trouble and annyance, and by which the ornamentation of the coffin is simplified and improved. To this end it consists in the locking or fastening device, and its combination with parts of a coffin or burial-case, by which the cap can be separately applied to and removed from the glass or locked to the glass and both applied to and removed together, or the cap and lid applied to the coffin or removed therefrom separately or together, as I Will now proceed to describe.

In the accompanying drawings, A represents a coffin or burial-case; B, the lid; O, the glass within a frame, D; and E, the cap covering the glass, all shown in Figs. l and 2. Instead of fastening the cap to the glass frame, and the frame to the lid by means of 4set-screws, I provide the cap near each end ;with `an ornamental knob, F, which may be `.attached directly to the cap or provided with an ornamental washer or escutcheon, G. The knob next the foot of the cap is simply fastened securely to the cap; but the Vshank of the opposite or head knob extends through the cap and is secured to a latch, H, whicl is adapted to turn or swing betweeuthe cap and glass within a recess of the cap. The latch is made of snfficient length to extend over the joint between the capand the 'frame which covers the glass.

I is a right-angulur dog, pivoted at its angle within a recess in the under side of the glass frame, opposite the latch, so that its arm J shall lie within the path of the latch; and K is a metal plate secured to the lid. The lid is recessed under the plate, and. the edge of the cap is recessed for the passage of a lng, m, on the arm N of the angular dog. The dog serves to lock the glass frame to the molding or body of the coffin, while the latch locks the cap to the frame. The opposite end of the frame is held in the molding by dowel-pins 0 or other suitable devices, and the cap is similarly held in the lower end of the frame.

To unlock or remove the cap from the frame the head-knob is turned to the right until the latch has cleared the joint between the cap and frame, when the cap can'be lifted off, the dowels permitting its easy removal. It is applied by fitting the dowels into the frame and then swinging the latch over the joint.

To remove the cap with the glass and its frame the lead-knob is turned to the left, when the latch strikes the arm J ofthe dog, noving it outward and swinging the lug m on the other arm, so as to register with the recess in the plate K. This disconnects the frame from the molding but as the latch is still over the joint between the cap and frame, these two parts are locked together, and can thus be lifted off the molding, the dowels clearing the latter, as above described in respect to the cap and frame.

- To apply the cap and frame they :are placed on the molding, the dowels inserted, and the latch again swung to the right, in which movement it strikes the lng of the dog-arm N and throws it again under tle locking-plate. The latch, still remaining over the joint, locks the frameand cap together.

From this description it will be seen that by simply turning the head-knob the cap can be unlocked from the frame to expose the glass, or the cap, with the frame and glass, removed to open the head of the coffin, while tle cap and frame can be applied to cover the glass or close the coffin in the most expeditious mauner.

The cap nay lbe applied without a glass frame detachable from the lid, in Which case the fastening device may be used to lock the lid and cap to each other and to the coffin, the angular dog being placed in the end of the coffin and the latch in the cap, as Will be readily understood.

Having thus described myinvention, what I claim' is- 1. The knob-latch and angular lever combined, to operate with the cap, the glass frame and coffin-lid, or with the cap-lid and coffin, substantially as described, for the purpose specified.

2. The knob-latch and angular lever and the dowels or equivalent devices, combined with the 'body and top parts of a coffn or bnrial-casket, substantially as described, for the purpose specified.

In testimony of which invention I have hereunto set my hand this 8th day of May, A. D. 1879.

ROBERT J. HOWDON.

Vitnesses:

E. A. ELLsWoR'rH, N. K. ELLsWoR'rH. 

